Tempus Materia (Collaboration with grovyrosegirl)
by Kid Icarus Girl
Summary: *Collaboration with grovyrosegirl* When a paradox between two alternate dimensions occurs, Lina, Celina, and Harlan are thrown into a new dimension! Pit, Penny, Dark Pit, and Rose must aid their new friends to help them get back home! But with a mysterious foe hunting them down, things might not be so easy... (Some OCs belong to grovyrosegirl)
1. A Paradox

It was a normal day at Palutena's temple. Two female angels, one with long brown hair, the other with short black hair, stood in the training room in front of two targets practicing their archery skills. Many arrows became lodged in the target as the two continued to fire their weapons. The brunette angel turned to her companion.

"Man, you're getting good at this Lina," the brown-haired girl told her friend.

"Thanks Celina, I've been working on it for a while." the black-haired girl replied. Celina drew another arrow and prepared to fire at the target. Suddenly, a figure dashed in front of her just as she fired. The figure quickly ducked when the arrow came at him.

"Harlan!" Celina grunted.

"How many times have I told you not to interrupt our archery practices?" The figure stood up revealing the demi-god (and part dragon) son of Palutena, Harlan. His long green hair and toga were in a muss from his running and his dragon wings were opened wide, as if he was in a rush to fly off somewhere.

"You look like you've been chased by Monoeyes- what's up?" Lina asked.

"I found something I think you guys should see." Harlan said in gasps. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny silver gem. The two girls walked over and the three examined it.

"Where did you find it?" Celina asked.

"I was checking out the ruins of the Lunar Sanctum and found it in what was left of Arlon's quarters." Harlan answered.

"Whoah, the ruins of the Lunar Sanctum? I thought Pit blew that place to ashes." Lina gasped, addressing Harlan.

"Well it was floating the ocean..." He mumbled.

"Oh..." the two angels replied at the same time. Suddenly, the gem began vibrating and glowing in Harlan's hand. Celina and Lina backed away slowly.

"Harlan," Lina began,

"Is that suppose to happen?"

"I don't know, but this stings!" He cried as he dropped the crystal. It shattered and a blinding light engulfed the room. Lina and Celina covered their eyes and Harlan fell back, all three of them crying for help.

...

Penny, the younger sister of Palutena, jumped from the many floating platforms in Skyworld, without a care in the world as she smiled and looked at the bright blue sky.

"You gotta stay upbeat, upbeat, upbeat! Or you'll be dead meat, dead meat, dead meat!" she cheerfully sang as the wind began to pick up and clouds began turning grey. Penny's braids bounced in the wind as she looked up at the sky. Right before her eyes, something that could only be described as a "hole" ripped opened in the clouds. Three figures fell from the hole...right on top of the young Goddess.

"Ow!" she cried as she the three figures crashed on top of her. Penny crawled out from the heap, stood up, and brushed the dirt off her dress. The sky returned to its normal bright blue color. She turned around and saw two young angels and what appeared to be a dragon boy- all of them unconscious- lying on the ground.

"Well that's something you don't see everyday. Better get them to the Infirmary." Penny said while scratching her head nervously.

...

Celina slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed in a small room with a large window. It's silk curtains the seemed to dance as the breeze flew by.

"Wait...the Infirmary?" Celina whispered to herself.

"Oh good, you're awake!" she heard a voice cheer. Celina sat up and turned her head to see a girl, about her age, standing next to the bed. Her long green hair was tied into two neat braids.

"Who are you?" Celina asked cautiously. The girl smiled at her.

"I'm- oh wait, could I tell you in this little rally cry I made up?" She asked excitedly.

"Uh sure?" Celina replied

"Yay! Okay, here goes!" The girl backed up a little.

"Attention stranger who fell from the sky! It's time for my introduction!" She rose up into the air a little,

"I am Penny! Younger sister of Palutena, Goddess of Light! And if enemies mess with me... they'll. Be. History!" The girl landed back on the ground. Celina laughed. Penny laughed too.

"I know, that was awful! I'm still working on it." Penny said with a giggle.

"Actually, I liked it!" Celina told Penny. Suddenly Celina's cheerful smile was replaced with a look of curiosity.

"Hold up, you're who's younger sister?" She asked.

"Palutena, the goddess of Light. I'm a Goddess too, but I'm still in training." Penny explained.

Celina was speechless.

"Lady Palutena has a sister?!" She exclaimed. Penny stared at her as if she was crazy.

"You know my sister?" Penny asked.

"Know her?" Celina replied, "I work for her! Like my friend Pit-,"

"Hold up!" Penny interrupted, "You know Pit too?! He's never told me about you! I swear, what other secrets is he keeping from me?"

"And he's never told me about you!" Celina added. "I think we should go have a little chat with him."

"Agreed," Penny said, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Celina."

"Cool! Well if I know Pit, he's probably in the lounge playing Mario Kart. Come on, let's go!" Penny said. The two ran out of the Infirmary to find a certain brown-haired angel.

...

Lina walked around the halls of temple. Everything seemed the same yet so different. Suddenly, she turned around and crashed into somebody. When she looked back she saw the dark angel, Dark Pit.

"Pittoo! Oh thank god!" Lina cheered. Dark Pit stared at her.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"Haha, very funny."

"No seriously..."

"Cut it out Pittoo you can't fool me."

"Who's your friend?" A voice said from behind Dark Pit. Lina looked behind him and saw a female angel with long pink hair.

"Beats me, I just met her." Dark Pit replied. Lina's face turned red with anger.

"Who's she?" Lina asked angrily.

The pink haired angel glared at Lina and crossed her arms.

"The name's Rose, you airhead."

"Airhead?!" Lina shouted,

"You trying to start something with me?" Lina turned and glared at Pittoo,

"What kind of sick game are you playing with me Pittoo?"

Dark Pit seemed clueless.

"Uh...it's weird, I've never met you, but for some reason I know your name. Lina?"

"YES! Lina! The girl who's about to throttle you in two seconds!" Lina shouted as she grabbed Pittoo's tunic. Rose pushed Lina.

"Hey back off," Rose said,

"Nobody throttles D.P.! Okay... except for me."

"D.P.?" Lina said,

"That's the stupidest nickname you could ever come up with for him!"

"Well at least I respect the fact that he doesn't like to be called Pittoo!" Rose snapped back. She reeled her hand back and gave Lina a slap on the cheek. Lina backed away a little, rubbing the red spot where Rose had slapped her.

"Oh you are so DEAD!" Lina shouted. She slapped Rose even harder. Rose slapped her again. Then Lina slapped Rose again until they went back and forth slapping each other. Dark Pit only stood back watching in awe at the two angels fighting. The Dark angel shook his head.

"I am sooooo confused." He muttered.

...

Pit sat in the lounge sitting in front of a TV playing Mario Kart on his Wii. He was almost in 1st place.

"PIT!" Penny shouted. Pit paused his game and turned around to see Penny with an angry look on her face. Standing next to her was a female angel he'd had never seen before.

"Hey Penny," he greeted her,

"Who's your friend?" Celina slapped him.

"Ow! What was that for Celina?!" He paused for a moment.

"Wait...how do I know your name?" He asked in wonder.

"Shut it Pit! Me and your friend here are going to beat you to a pulp you cheater!" Celina shouted. Penny grabbed Pit by his tunic and Celina raised her fist.

"YOU ARE SO DEAD!" the girls both shouted.

"I'm finished," Pit whimpered as Celina socked him in the face.


	2. It Did What?

Celina and Penny continued smacking and punching Pit who was wincing in pain and confusion.

"Stop!" a voice rang out. The girls stopped and dropped Pit to the ground. He lay there with a bloodied nose. There, standing in front of them was Palutena, the Goddess of Light. Next to her stood Harlan.

"Celina!" Harlan scolded, "I leave you alone for ten minutes and already you've beaten up Pit!"

"He's a cheater!" Celina replied.

"No he's not a cheater Celina. He's just not your Pit." Palutena said softly.

"What?" Celina and Penny said at the same time, both scratching their heads.

"He isn't your Pit, just as I am not your Palutena." Palutena explained.

"You're not making much sense sis," Penny said.

"You see, me, Celina, and Lina aren't in our Skyworld. Sure this is Skyworld, but not the one in our dimension." Harlan explained.

"Hold up...dimension?!" Celina gasped.

"Yep, that silver crystal I showed you and Lina? It's transported us into a different dimension." Harlan explained. The girls' eyes widened. They slowly turned around and looked at Pit who was injured on the floor.

"Oh my gods," Penny cried,

"I'm sorry Pit!" She grabbed his hand and helped him up.

"Me too," Celina said looking down at her feet.

"Nah it's fine. I'll just take a nice little trip to our Hot Spring later." Pit mumbled while spitting out a tooth.

"You guys have a hot spring in your dimension?! Awesome!" Celina said excitedly.

"Now if only we knew where Lina has gone off to."Harlan said to himself. Right as he finished, the door to the lounge burst open and Lina and Rose ran in, falling to the floor tackling each other, pulling each others' hair, and repeatdly slapping the other's face. Palutena and Harlan stepped back. Dark Pit came running through the door watching the fight.

"Palutena!" Dark Pit shouted over the noise of the fight,

"What the heck is going on?!"

"Rose!" Penny scolded.

"Lina!" Celina also scolded. The two ran over and pulled Lina and Rose apart from each other. Penny held Rose back as Celina held Lina back.

"Oh you are SO lucky they were here or I would've teared you apart limb by limb, airhead!" Rose shouted angrily.

"Oh yeah? Even if you did stand a chance against me, it wouldn't be your fists that could injure me, it'd be that disgusting pink hair of yours! I mean seriously, how did you make it that way? I bet you put food coloring in it, hothead!" Lina snapped back.

"Oh now you think my hair is disgusting? Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Rose growled back.

"Airhead!"

"Hothead!"

"Klutz!"

"Idiot!"

"SHUT UP!" Celina shouted. Rose and Lina went silent. Penny and Celina slowly let go of Rose and Lina, who turned away from each other when they were free of the two's grasp.

"Now girls," Palutena said gently,

"We have a bit of a situation here..."

Palutena explained what was going on.

"Woah...alternate dimensions?" Dark Pit said in awe.

"Correct," Harlan answered.

"Lina, Celina, and myself come from a different dimension. You see Dark Pit, in our dimension you have feelings for Lina and Pit has feelings for Celina. That is why you two knew their names, your alternate selves are connected."

Rose spoke up, "How do you know about this?"

"I'm a demi-god." Harlan answered.

"Yes, apparently in his dimension...he's my son." Palutena explained. The six went silent. Harlan gasped quietly, a look of realization crossing his face.

"So if I'm your son," Harlan wondered aloud,

"And Penny is your sister...then that means...oh gods."

"Nephew!" Penny cheered. She ran over and hugged him very tightly.

"Oh gosh this is great! We can have all sorts of bonding activities! Like going to family picnics, and playing soccer, and playing ping-pong, and competing in Tug-of-War contests, and going to musicals, and going to the beach, and..." As Penny continued listing "bonding activities" Harlan shuddered at the thought of the little goddess being his aunt. Lina and Celina began cracking up. Dark Pit and Pit stared at each other, still trying to come to the terms of what was going on.

Palutena giggled then slowly pulled Penny away from Harlan.

"Okay, okay, now back to business. Harlan and I are going to try to find a way to return you three home, but until we can, it looks like you'll be staying with us for a while."

Penny smiled and looked at Celina.

"Sweet! You can bunk with me! I'm pretty sure we have an extra bed somewhere, come on, I'll show you my room!"

"Sweet!" Celina cheered. Penny grabbed Celina's hand and the two ran out of the room and down the hallway.

"Well those two seem to be getting along nicely. Wish I could say the same about Rose and Lina..." Palutena said as she turned to see Rose and Lina glaring at one another. Palutena quickly stepped between them to break the tension.

"Anyway, Lina you can stay in the guest room, it's right next to my room. Pit, is it alright if Harlan bunks with you?" The Goddess asked.

"Sure thing, Lady Palutena!" Pit said.

"But first, I think I'll need that trip to the Hot spring." He rubbed his nose which was still bleeding.

"Woah, what happened to you?" Dark Pit asked.

"Don't ask." Pit said with a whimper. He slowly walked off in the direction of the Hot Spring.

"I think we should be getting back, or Viridi's going to go all psycho on us." Rose whispered as she leaned over to Dark Pit. Lina tilted her head to the side, a confused look playing across her face..

"You work for Viridi in this dimension?" Lina asked Dark Pit.

"Yep," he replied,

"Nice meeting you."

He and Rose walked off. Lina was silent for a moment.

"This place is so messed up," she whispered. Palutena gestured to Lina, telling her follow her to the guest room. Lina nodded and walked off with Palutena and Harlan.

... At Penny's room...

"That's a good spot, thanks guys. You can head back to the barracks." Penny told two Centurions as they placed an extra bed next to Penny's. The Centurions bowed and left the room. Celina stood in the center looking around. The walls were sky blue, the floor was ocean blue marble polished so well you could see your reflection, a large window was placed on the opposite side of the room with golden silk curtains, and a wooden dresser that had carvings of clouds on it. Penny's bed was quite large, with white covers and a golden canopy. Celina's bed was made to look exactly the same. Celina ran over and hopped onto it. Penny laughed and sat on her own bed.

"Your room is amazing!" Celina told her.

"Thanks," Penny replied, "But you should see my sister's room, it has a hot tub in it."

"Really?!"

"No, I'm joking. It has TWO hot tubs!" The girls were silent then began giggling like two little girls who had just gotten bucket-fulls candy.

"Wanna see something cool?" Celina asked.

"Sure!" Penny exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Okay...do you have any paper?" Celina asked. Penny nodded. She reached into her dresser's drawer and pulled out a piece, then handed it to Celina. Celina crumbled the paper into a ball then threw it in the air. She pointed her finger and shot a small spark at it. The piece of paper transformed into a bouquet of daisies. Celina quickly caught it in her hands.

"Epic!" Penny cheered.

"Now show me some of your Goddess powers!" Celina said bouncing a little on the bed.

"Alright, here goes nothing..." Penny said. She took out an empty pot and snapped her fingers. A tiny light appeared above her hand. The light flew into the pot, small sparks whizzing about behind it. In a flash, a patch of lilies grew out of the pot.

"Sweet!" Celina said in awe.

"You know what Celina? I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship." Penny said with a smile.

"Agreed."

...

At the guest room...

"Okay, I hope this will work for you," Palutena told Lina. Lina gazed around at the room. It has a large bed with green covers, pearl white walls, and lights which resembled stars.

"It's perfect! Thank you Milady." Lina said while bowing. Palutena smiled.

"If you need anything I'll be right next door." Palutena told her as she walked out. Lina smiled and hopped onto the bed.

"Jeez, today has been quite eventful," Lina said to herself as she gazed up at the ceiling.

"But one thing still bothers me," She whispered.

"Why did we end up here in the first place?"

…

At Pit's room...

"Alright, the best I can give you is the trundle bed; I hope that's okay." Pit told Harlan as he pulled out the trundle bed from underneath his own bed.

"Thank you Pit, this will do nicely." Harlan replied.

"No prob, any member of Palutena's family is welcome in my room!" Pit said with a smile.

"Even Penny?" Harlan asked in a teasing tone. Pit's cheeks went red.

"Well I mean...not exactly...I...shut up!" Pit stuttered. Harlan laughed.

...

Little did our heroes know that outside of the Temple, at the spot where Celina, Lina, and Harlan had landed, the remains of the shattered silver gem lay on the ground. A dark mist emerged from the shattered pieces. The mist swirled around and formed into the shape of a man. The man was tall and spindly, his hair jet black, each strand ending in a poison green color, his eyes were blood red, his left eye screwed shut. From under the dark cowl he wore, he gazed at his surroundings.

"Skyworld..." he whispered. He turned to Palutena's Temple and grinned evilly.

"Ah yes, the home of Pretty Palutena. And the boy who took down Hades...twice. How excellent. And it seems they are not alone. Yes...I'll definitely keep this place in mind. But for now...I believe it is time for me to rebuild my army." The man hovered in the air.

"Soon," he announced,

"This world will meet its destruction at the hands of...Malum!" His evil grin widened as he cackled. In a flash of black smoke, he was gone.


	3. A New Foe

Palutena and Harlan stood in the main lobby of the temple. In front of them was what appeared to be a hologram which showed an image of the silver gem that had sent Harlan, Celina, and Lina to this alternate dimension.

"From the looks of it," Palutena said,

"It appears that crystal was filled with some sort of Dark Magic. Harlan, where did you find it?"

"Within the ruins of the Lunar Sanctum, in Arlon's chamber." He answered looking up at Palutena. Palutena rubbed her chin as she tried to think.

"I think it's best if we ask Viridi about this." She said, a look of concern on her face.

"Good idea Mother," Harlan replied,

"Should we head to- arg!" Harlan held a hand up to his forehead. He grunted as a horrible pain surged through his head and the sound of screams rang in his ears.

"Harlan?!" Palutena gasped in concern,

"What's wrong- oh!"

Suddenly, the same sharp pain ran through Palutena's head. As they A cold voice whispered in their ears...

_The screams of mortals... they soothe me... I am hungry for more..._

_I crave chaos._

_Destruction._

_Grief._

_Sorrow._

_Yes... the mortals will experience all of these._

_Prepare yourselves, for you will soon meet the same fate._

Harlan and Palutena gasped as they fell to the floor, both of them breathing heavily.

"Harlan...you felt that as well, right?" Palutena whispered, still trying to catch her breath.

Harlan nodded, "Yes...the mortals...they're going to be in big trouble..."

...

"So...you were taken by dark angels?" Pit asked Celina as he, Celina, and Penny sat in the lounge playing Mario Kart on their Wii.

"Yep." Celina replied.

"And they were Medusa's goons?"

"Yeah."

"And I saved you?"

"Well, sort of, I guess. You kind of ended up dead along the way, but my magic saved you. I guess we saved each other."

Pit raised an eyebrow- this 'other Pit' had been resurrected?

"What's the other me like?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Celina asked as Penny looked in the young girl's direction,

"I mean personality wise." Pit answered.

"Oh, well... actually, you're pretty much the same." Celina said with a smile.

"Really?" He said.

"Yeah except my Pit can't cook." She chuckled.

"Neither can _he_." Penny grumbled as she pointed to the Pit next to her.

"Recently I've been giving him lessons."

"Lessons?" Celina asked,

"Hmm... I should try that when I get home."

"Ugh, girls." Pit sighed as the two girls giggled.

Suddenly, Penny's head began to pound. She dropped her controller and held her head, wincing in pain.

"Penny?!" Pit gasped. He and Celina rushed over to her.

"What's wrong?! Are you alright?!"

"I...I...hear screams..." Penny stuttered.

'What are you talking about?" Celina asked in concern as the happy light in the room began to fade.

"What's happening?" Pit asked as he put his hands on Penny's shoulders.

"B-black magic," She stuttered as the room was completely filled with darkness.

"_Ah, the pain and terror- it makes me feel so refreshed," _A dark voice echoed inside of the room.

"Who said that?" Penny growled as she tried to fight off the pain.

"_The person who will be responsible for your downfall." _The voice said with a dark laugh.

"Wait- that voice! I've heard it before!" Celina gasped.

"_So you recognize me, little wench?" _The voice said with a sneer.

"Yes I do, Malum." Celina said as she clenched her fists tightly at her sides.

Many years after Hades's uprising, Celina had met a young human man by the name of Malum. She'd found him wounded by falling debris from Pit's final battle.

"Who are you?" He'd asked her as she pulled a fallen tree limb off of him, his voice quiet and weak.

"Celina- don't worry, ." Celina said as she helped him up onto his feet.

"I can't feel my legs," Malum had groaned as she helped him to a cave.

"Don't worry- I'll fix that." She'd said with a smile.

Ever so carefully, Celina set him down.

"I never caught your name," She'd said as she carefully examined the young man's leg.

"Malum." He'd said simply as he sat up, wincing.

"Hey," He'd said, catching Celina's attention.

"You're an angel, right?" He'd asked, eyeing her pure white wings.

"Yeah, why?" She'd asked, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Why'd you help a mercenary like me? You're supposed to help 'good' people." Malum had asked as he watched Celina summon two orbs of pale blue light.

"Because I can see purity in your heart." She'd said simply as she conjoined the orbs. She gently tossed them in his direction, and he was enveloped in their light. Once it faded away, most of his wounds had disappeared.

"I can't help you when it comes to your legs- you'll be stuck here until they heal. They're both broken." Celina had said as a she snapped her fingers. A small fire appeared before her, warming up the cave.

"Thank you," Malum had said with a smile.

"I'll be back tomorrow," Celina had said over her shoulder as she flew back to Skyworld.

For months after that, Celina had gone to visit Malum, but despite all of her hard work to heal him, his legs wouldn't heal properly.

"I'm sorry- I can't help you." Celina had said as she sat down beside Malum. His blue eyes seemed clouded with defeat. For a long while, they sat in silence.

"Wait a minute," Celina had said, flicking her gaze towards the young man beside her,

"I could teach you to use magic- you'd be able to move that way!" She'd said as Malum turned to her, his eyes open wide.

"You'd do that for me?" Malum had asked.

"Only if you swear to abandon the life of a mercenary." Celina had said as she stood up.

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Malum said with a smile.

For many more months, Celina continued to visit Malum. Bit by bit, he learned how to cast spells and create small illusions.

"Alright, now try to focus your power- think about being able to fly." Celina said as she clenched her fists tightly. Ever so slowly, she lifted off of the ground.

_I can do this, _Malum had thought as he followed Celina's instructions. Slowly, Malum felt himself lift off of the ground. He was almost in a standing position, when a blast of blue fire shot from his hands.

"Look out!" He'd called as he fell to the ground. Celina ducked and the two watched as the blue fire bounced around the cave, finally hitting a patch of moss. It immediately turned to ice.

"It's hopeless," Malum had sighed as he laid himself on the floor of the cave.

"I'll never be able to move from this spot."

Celina sighed and looked at the birds flying above the horizon.

"Don't worry, I'll come back tomorrow- we'll keep trying." She said as she flew off.

Late that night, Malum had laid awake, fiddling with a black candle he'd kept in one of his satchels.

"I'll repay her for her hard work. I'll prove that I'm not worthless- I'll win her heart." He'd said as he grabbed a piece of flint.

As he lit the candle with the flint, he began to chant in an ancient tongue.

_Ancient Spirits fill me with your power. Take my form and _give _me the strength to live an eternal life…_

As he chanted, he could feel the cave growing cold. The fire dwindled, and the light disappeared. Slowly, he began to feel dizzy.

"I will have her heart…" Malum had growled as his blue eyes turned black.

"I will prove myself worthy…" He'd said as he growled- more like an animal than anything- as his blond hair turned black as death.

_I will kill her _He'd thought as he seemed to absorb the darkness around him.

_I will destroy all that stands in my way._

When Celina returned, she was overjoyed when she saw Malum could now walk- but she didn't notice how he'd changed.

"You did it! You finally-" She didn't get to finish her sentence. Malum had rushed at her and grabbed her by the throat.

"I'll kill you and take your heart," He said slyly as he drew a knife from his hilt.

"What happened to you?" Celina gasped, clawing at his hand- which clenched her throat tightly.

"I became my true self- and now I can keep your love for myself!" He shrieked as he tried to plunge his knife into the young angel's body.

"I don't think so!" Celina screamed as she shot a blast of purifying magic at the evil man.

"Fool- I cannot be destroyed by a measly angel!" Malum had laughed. Soon, his laughter subsided when he felt himself drop his knife. He was bound by chains of pure light- and they were dragging him into an empty dimension.

"Whatever black magic has cursed you, it will be destroyed in a dimension of pure light." Celina rasped as she grabbed the knife from the ground.

"Wench!" Malum screamed as Celina sliced a thin cut along his hand, forcing him to release her.

"I will have your heart!" He screamed one last time before he was swallowed up by the light.

_I'm sorry, _Celina had though as she sealed the portal.

_I don't want you to suffer anymore._

...

"Celina..." Penny said softly as she still shook with pain,

"I had no idea..." But Celina didn't respond.

"Okay Malum, you've had your fun, now leave!" She shouted

"_Heh_... sure._ But first..._" Malum snickered. At that moment Penny was engulfed by what appeared to be purple lightning bolts. She released a scream of immense pain.

"NO!" Pit shouted,

"Stop! Leave her alone!"

"_And now I take my leave. I look forward to seeing your blood stain my staff..._" Malum whispered. He then let out a loud cackle. The bolts shocking Penny faded away and she fell to the ground and the lights slowly flickered back on. Celina stood still for a moment then turned around to Pit who was on his knees holding Penny who was unconscious. Celina crouched down next to him. At that moment Lina came running through the doorway followed by Palutena and Harlan.

"Is everyone alright? I heard screaming." Lina said in concern. She then caught a glimpse of the two angels tending the knocked out Penny.

"Oh gods...what happened?"

Celina looked up at her friend,

"Lina, he's back."


	4. Toil And Trouble

"You can't possibly mean..." Lina started to say. Celina nodded, a grim expression on her face.

"Oh gods...this bad! _Really _bad!" Lina muttered as she started ringing her hands

"Celina," Pit asked,

"What exactly is black magic?"

Celina turned to Pit, "It's a power that has been known for centuries. If it's used incorrectly, it corrupts those who come into contact with it... making them crave chaos. It takes a truly pure heart to resist the effects of black magic. Malum's heart wasn't pure enough to resist the darkness, which is why he's become the psycho we just witnessed."

"Well one thing's for sure, I'll make him **pay **for what he just did to Penny." Pit stated angrily as he glanced back down at the unconscious girl in his arms.

"Well," Lina suggested, "From the looks of it, Malum isn't causing any harm at the moment so we best prepare ourselves for his next move."

"Sounds like a plan." Harlan replied.

...

"Pit, wake up!" Lina shouted as Pit awoke to find himself being shaken wildly by the black haired angel. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Lina, Celina, Penny (who had a few bandages wrapped around her arms), and Palutena standing over his bed- all still in their pajamas. Pit sat up in his bed and turned on the light.

"Huh? What's wrong?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"It's Harlan," Celina answered nervously, "We can't find him anywhere!"

At that remark, Pit was at full attention. "What?!"

He looked down at the trundle bed on the floor. The covers were mussed, but there was no sign of Harlan.

"How?! I swear, he was **right there** when we went to bed!"

"I can sense there was a dark presence in here," Penny breathed as she brushed her hand against the trundle bed. "You know what that means..."

"Malum." Pit growled with disgust.

"Celina," Palutena commanded, "I need you to contact Viridi, ask her to send Pittoo and Rose...we'll need all the help we can get."

"On it!" Celina responded with a solute. Within minutes, she had dashed out of the room and launched herself into the sky.

…

"Feh, why should I care?" Dark Pit asked in a snarky tone.

"He was just an annoying super smart guy."

"Because this might be your one and only chance to prove that you're a good guy!" Lina answered, hoping that like the characters in movies, Dark Pit would take the chance to be Mr. Save-The-Day.

"Hmm," He hummed quietly as he seemed to ponder whether he should seize the moment.

"No."

Lina was dumbstruck. The Dark Pit in her dimension wasn't _nearly _as stubborn as the one in this dimension.

"Hmph. _My _Dark Pit is a whole lot better than _you._ He's not afraid to go and look for people who are in danger- even if he ends up putting himself in danger." Lina growled as she crossed her arms and turned away from the dark angel. She smirked when she heard him growl in frustration.

_'Well, there's one thing they _do _have in common- they're both obsessed with being better than everyone else' _Lina thought.

"Fine- I'll do it- but not because I care about being a good guy." Dark Pit snapped as he went off to find rose.

"Sure, whatever." Lina said with a smile.

"Wow, I can't believe that actually worked." said an all-too-familiar voice. Lina sighed to herself and turned to face the pink-haired angel. After their little "incident" a few days ago, let's just say things weren't peachy between them.

"Reverse psychology," Lina replied bluntly, "Oldest trick in the book."

Rose chuckled and crossed her arms, "Look airhead I-,"

"Lina." Lina growled, "My name is Lina."

"I call everyone from Skyworld airhead, get used to it." Rose snapped back. She then sighed and continued, "Look, I know we got off on a bad start. Okay... a _really _bad start. But hey, as long as you have your Dark Pit back in whatever dimension you came from, _no touchie_ on mine, got it?"

Lina rolled her eyes, "Got it."

"Then we're on the same page," Rose replied. "Now then..." She walked past Lina and called down the hallway, "Yo D.P.! Get your butt in here!"

Dark Pit's grunt echoed down the hallway.

As he walked back into the room, he clutched his Silver Bow tightly and growled, "For your information, I was looking for _you_."

"Yeah, but I got here first. Let's get a move on, slow poke." Rose teased. Dark Pit rolled his eyes and followed the two girls out the door. When they arrived outside, Pit, Penny, and Celina were waiting for them, weapons in hand.

"Wow, I can't believe you actually got him to come," Penny whispered to Lina as they prepared their weapons.

Lina shrugged, "I have my ways."

...

The group soared through the sky, heading in the direction of a small town.

"Alright," Palutena said to them, "I'm picking up some sort of energy in that town; once you get there, split up into teams of two. Pit, you and Pittoo check the northern end of the town, Lina and Penny, you two check the Southern end, and Celina and Rose check the east and west ends."

"Understood Lady Palutena!" Pit responded. The group dived down toward the town.

...

"Okay, if any of us find Harlan, we contact each other, got it?" Pit explained.

"Right!" the others (except Dark Pit and Rose) replied.

"Then let's move out!" Pit cheered.

...

Celina and Rose walked through the empty streets of the Southern part of town. Not a soul was in sight.

"Where are the humans?" Rose asked. Celina began to feel uneasy. Something wasn't right about this situation.

"Agh!" Rose grunted which interrupted Celina's thoughts. She quickly turned. Her eyes widened at the sight before her.

"Hello _wench_." Malum hissed. He stood in front of Celina, and in his right hand, to Celina's horror, he held Rose by the throat. She struggled, gasping for breath.

"Rose!" Celina shouted as she charged at Malum. Malum squeezed Rose's neck tighter. Celina stopped mid-attack.

"One step closer," Malum threatened as he turned his face to Rose, "and she dies."

...

"Find anything?" Penny asked Lina as they went through crates in an alley.

"Ugh, nope." Lina growled in frustration.

Penny sighed. So far, no progress. Suddenly a chill ran down Penny's spine. She gazed up at a rooftop above them. On top was a figure in a long cloak, their face and head covered by a hood. In their arms they held a long blade... aiming straight at Lina!

"Get down!" Penny called to Lina as she pushed her out of the way. The blast from the hooded figure missed.

"What was that?!" Lina asked in alarm.

"I don't know," Penny replied, "but we can't let him get away!" The two took off running.

_…_

"Oh come on, it's just _sitting _there! It's not like it belongs to anyone!" Pit whined as Dark Pit dragged his doppelganger away from a stray piece of pizza.

"Use your peanut, dingle brain!" Dark Pit snapped as he spun Pit around so the two were facing each other.

"Who leaves a random piece of pizza- especially one on a nice plate- in the middle of a road?!" Dark Pit asked. Pit opened his mouth to answer, then shut it.

"Fine, I won't eat it." He sighed as Dark Pit let go of his arms.

"Besides," Dark Pit began, "It might have drugs or something in- Pit!" He growled as he looked back to see Pit happily munching on the pizza.

"Good gods, you're an idiot." Dark Pit growled as he walked over to the 'Hero of Light'.

"Hey, food is food!" Pit said as he shoved the last bite of pizza into his mouth. As he chewed the last bite, the sky began to get dark.

"Why are the clouds turning red?" Pit asked as he stared up at the sky, fear filling his gaze. Dark Pit turned to look at the sky, and then looked at Pit with a neutral expression.

"You're delusional, Pit." He said flatly as Pit stood up and began swatting at the air in front of himself.

"There are tiny demons attacking- why aren't you getting them off of yourself?!" Pit asked in a panic as he swatted one with his bow.

"There's nothing here!" Dark Pit growled as he walked up to Pit and smacked him.

"DEMON KING!" Pit screamed as he pointed his bow towards Dark Pit.

"What?!" He cried in confusion as Pit lunged at him, splitting his bow into two golden blades.

"Die demon!" Pit yelled as he nearly cut Dark Pit off at the head.

"Snap out of it you idiot!" Dark Pit yelled as he punched Pit in the jaw. As Pit hit the ground, Dark Pit noticed that his eyes had a glazed look to them.

"Drugs; knew it." Dark Pit muttered as he lifted up the now unconscious Pit.

"That's what you think." A familiar voice said from behind Dark Pit.

"Lights out." Harlan murmured as he hit Dark Pit over the head, sending him crashing to the ground.

…

"Did you hear that?" Penny asked Lina as they walked through the streets of the town, weapons out.

"Yeah, it sounded like Pit screaming." Lina replied as she listened for Pit again. As the two looked around for signs of the two boys, Penny gasped.

"What's wrong?" Lina asked as she looked at the young goddess.

"It's Harlan!" Penny exclaimed as she pointed at the figure of a young boy running towards them.

"Penny, Lina! I'm so glad I found you!" Harlan wheezed as he stopped to catch his breath. His clothes were torn, and he was bruised all over.

"What happened to you? The girls asked as they sat Harlan down to let him rest.

"Oh, I'll tell you what happened." The voice of another young woman said. The group turned to see none other than the Goddess of Nature, Viridi.

"Lady Viridi," Lina began as she kneeled before the goddess, "It is an honor to make you acquaintance-"

"It's alright- I already know who you are." Viridi said, cutting the angel off. "Dark Pit blabs about you all the time."

At that remark, Lina started blushing like crazy.

"I heard about this wacko called Malum who was killing trees with a strong miasma. I wouldn't stand for it, so I came down here to deal with him myself. I found him in the forest choking Harlan, so I decided to intervene. The minute Malum saw me, he ditched Harlan and disappeared." Viridi explained as she crossed her arms and stood as tall as she could. Despite her small size, her ego was bigger than everyone.

"Well then, shouldn't we go looking for Malum?" Harlan asked.

"We should. Let's go." Penny said as the group began to set off.

"I guess your job is done." A sly voice said from above. Everyone looked up and gasped.

"Die," Malum growled as the world went black.


	5. Traitors

"Malum... put her down..." Celina pleaded calmly as Malum slowly tightened his grip on Rose's throat.

"Oh little wench, you should know better than anyone, _I don't show mercy_." He sneered as he squeezed even tighter. Rose let out a struggling gasp for air. "But I don't think it would be fun for_me_ to be the killer... no. She will not die by my hand, but by yours!"

His left eye that had been screwed shut before opened, releasing a red beam of light- or was it darkness? Suddenly, Celina's arms stuck to her sides, almost as if they were glued. Her limbs felt stiff.

_'I can't move,'_ She thought as she glared at the evil man before her with a renewed hatred. Malum grinned evilly and dropped Rose. She crashed onto the ground almost like a ragdoll, coughing and spluttering. Malum raised his arm to the sky and a bloodied axe appeared in Celina's hands. To her surprise, her legs began moving- forcing her to head towards Rose.

"No! No! Stop!" Celina cried desperately as she reached the now motionless angel. Her arms rose above her head, fresh blood from an innocent victim dripping from the blade. "Rose, wake up!" Celina called, but Rose didn't budge.

"How I'd love to watch this, but it appears I have made a connection with my new little puppet. We will meet again, wench." Malum hissed as he vanished into thin air. Tears sparkled in Celina's eyes as she looked down at Rose, knowing full well she was just about to take an innocent angel's life, and couldn't even stop herself. Celina shut her eyes, unable to look. She felt her arms coming down, and waited for the sound of ripping flesh. But the sound never came.

"Celina," a familiar voice whispered, "It's alright, you can open your eyes now."

Celina hesitated, but eventually opened her eyes. In front of her she saw Lady Palutena, who was tending to Rose. She looked up at Celina with a look of concern. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"L-Lady Palutena... I-" Celina started to explain as she dropped the axe.

"It's alright dear, you don't have to explain." Palutena said with a warm smile. The uncertain expression in the Goddess's eyes betrayed the happiness in her grin.

Suddenly Rose grunted. She sat up while rubbing her head, looking around for Malum. Celina felt slightly at ease.

"Ugh, what happened?" Rose asked weakly.

"Well, for one, I did _not _almost kill you with an axe," Celina said nervously as she stepped in front of the weapon she had stuck into the dirt road. _'This day is _not _going well,' _She thought.

...

"L-Lina, what's going on?!" Penny cried in a panic. "I can't see a thing!" The surrounding area was pitch black; you couldn't even see your own hands.

"I don't know!" Lina called back. "Where are you?"

"Um, I'm not sure! Am I touching your hand?" Penny replied.

Viridi growled, "That's _my_ hand, you dolt!"

"Harlan," Lina called, "Where are you?!"

"Behind you." Harlan replied- somewhat monotonously.

"Oh thank gods-" Lina started to say, but went silent as a THUMP was heard.

"Lina?" Penny asked sounding quite confused and fearful, "What happened?! Lina! Harlan, where's-"

THUMP.

"Hey, idiots! Where did you go?" Viridi called out. Not one response was heard. Suddenly, a hand clapped over Viridi's mouth. She struggled to get the hand off.

"You really need to learn to stop talking." Malum hissed.

...

"Man, I am going _kill _him!" Dark Pit growled. Pit slowly opened his eyes as the world slowly came into focus. Dark Pit was next to him, rubbing his head.

"Who?" Pit asked.

Dark Pit turned to his twin who showed a little relief that Pit was awake, but his mood turned right back to anger. "Harlan!" he answered.

"What?!" Pit gasped, "Why? What happened?"

"While you were unconscious after that stupid pizza, which may I remind you had _drugs _in it, he came up from behind and hit me right in head!" Dark Pit explained.

_"Pit? Pittoo?" _A strong feminine voice echoed in their heads.

"Lady Palutena!" Pit cheered. "What's going on here?"

_"Oh, thank goodness you two are alright. Malum has launched an attack. Rose and Celina are here with me and they're doing just fine. I can't seem to contact Lina and Penny, no matter how hard I try."_

"Don't worry we'll, find them Lady Palutena!" Pit assured her. "Right Pittoo?"

Dark Pit glared at his twin and replied, "Yeah sure, but when I say, 'Don't eat food off the ground' I mean it! Got it?"

Pit let out a laugh and nodded. Dark Pit rolled his eyes.

"Wait… what's that?" Dark Pit wondered aloud as he pointed to something in the distance. Pit turned his head and to his surprise, he saw a dark cloud looming over a few buildings- the evil presence emanating from it was sickeningly strong.

"What on Earth?" Pit mumbled. The two angels quickly charged in the direction of the cloud.

...

As soon as the twin angels reached their destination, the cloud slowly drifted away, revealing Penny and Lina who were both unconscious. Pit raced over to Penny as Pittoo raced over to Lina.

"Penny?!" Pit asked in a panic as he shook the young Goddess awake. "What happened?!"

Penny slowly opened her eyes and greeted softly, "Oh, hey Pit. We found Harlan... but then everything went dark... and I think something hit me... so how'd things go with you and Pittoo?"

"Oh uh..." Pit stuttered as he rubbed the back of his head, "I kinda ate a drug-filled pizza... heh..."

Penny raised an eyebrow. "It was on the ground wasn't it?"

"Yes..." Pit sighed in defeat. Penny chuckled as she stood up. "_..._You can be such an idiot sometimes."

"I know." Pit replied as he glanced over at his doppelganger.

Lina slowly opened her eyes and saw Dark Pit looming above her. "Hey, you alright?" He asked her.

Lina could feel her cheeks warming up. She stuttered, "Oh yeah... just dandy."

Dark Pit diverted his gaze away from Lina as he started blushing ever so slightly. Lina smirked and sat up. _'He's so cute,' _She thought.

"Hey, if you found Harlan, where'd he go?" Pit asked as he looked around for traces of the demi-god.

"Yeah, we've got some unfinished business to settle." Dark Pit growled, clenching his hands into tight fists.

"He was with us just minutes ago- and Viridi too." Penny pointed out.

"D'aww- she's in this fanfic too?" Dark Pit complained. Pit, Lina and Penny stared wide-eyed at Dark Pit as an explosion was heard in the background.

"THE FOURTH WALL, YOU DOLT!" Lina cried, covering her head with her hands in preparation for a fangirl swarm. The fourth wall is the barrier between reality and fantasy- which as you can see, has been about four times now. When no fangirl swarm came, Lina glowered at the dark angel. "Note to self," She began, "Make Pittoo rebuild the Fourth Wall with a toothbrush."

Dark Pit raised his hands in defense, "That is _cruel _and _unusual_ punishment."

While Lina and Dark Pit were off to the side squabbling, Penny and Pit were working on a plan.

"So, as you said, you were with Viridi and Harlan?" Pit asked.

Penny took a deep breath, unsure of where to start. "Yeah. It became pitch black just minutes after we met up with them- and Malum was there too and-"

"Whoa, hold on a sec- Malum? Did he hurt you?" Pit asked, placing his hands gently on Penny's shoulders.

"No, I'm fine- now maybe should we get to the _planning_?" Penny asked. She didn't like the somewhat glazed look in the angel's eyes. They had the same look that Harlan's eyes did.

"Do you remember any crucial details about what's happened lately? Everything before the pizza incident is fuzzy." Pit asked. Now Penny was getting a little creeped out. Pit usually didn't forget important things like that- plus, his eyes weren't focused on anything at all.

"Pit, are you alright?" Penny asked, slipping his hands from her shoulders.

"I'm perfectly fine- I've never been better." He replied. The way he was speaking- it wasn't like Pit to use that manner of speech.

"Oh, whatever! Let's just join the others." Lina growled, stomping over to Penny. "Have you guys decided- Pit! What are you doing?!" Lina nearly shrieked. Pit had Penny backed up against a wall, one end of his bow pointing at her throat.

"It is so easy to manipulate this form," Pit said as he turned his head to look at Lina- who was absolutely horrified. Pit's voice sounded just like Malum's.

"How are you able to control him? He's stronger than that!" Lina growled, pulling out her own weapon.

"That pizza he so cleverly decided to eat was part of my trap- as was this. I injected a specially concocted potion into that pizza which enabled me to seize control of his body. I kidnapped Harlan in his sleep and used a similar method to gain control of him. I was quite careless with Pit though." Malum sneered.

"Pit, _what are you doing_?!" Dark Pit asked, separating his own bow into two blades.

"Pit's gone." Malum snickered, causing Dark Pit to jump slightly out of shock.

"Come on, Pit! Wake up! Can't you see what you're doing?" Penny begged as Malum turned to look at her once again.

"Fool, save your breath. Pit is nothing more than an empty shell now." He said as he brought his blade ever closer to Penny's throat.

"Pit, I know you're still there- be strong for us!" Penny pleaded as the tip of the blade nearly brushed her throat. "Be strong for me- and Celina, too!"

Penny screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the moment when everything would end.

"P-Penny…" Pit rasped. Penny slowly opened her eyes. One of Pit's eyes had regained its normal crystal blue color, while the other was still cloudy. Pit fought to pull his weapon away from Penny's throat, but eventually brought it back far enough for her to slip away.

"Run… I can't… control myself…" He growled as he tossed his bow to the side, struggling to maintain control.

"Get away from him!" A strong voice called. Penny, Lina and Dark Pit glanced up to see a figure clad in white slam into the Hero of Light.

"What just happened?!" Dark Pit asked as Pit was pinned to the ground, Celina holding him still.

"Knock him out- paralyze him, or something- and do it fast!" Celina growled through clenched teeth.

"Why?" Penny asked, confused and afraid.

"Just trust me- I have a hunch I know what Malum's up to." Celina growled as Pit attempted to throw her off of him.

"Right," Lina, Dark Pit and Penny said in unison. The three ran over to Pit, each using their own methods of what you could call 'paralyzing'. Dark Pit simply smacked his doppelganger, while Penny and Lina used a mix of magic and pressure points to eventually freeze him. After Pit was frozen, it was clear that Malum had abandoned him, leaving him temporarily free.

"So… can you… I dunno… fix him up?" Penny asked. _'Gee, never thought I'd see the day when I had to say something like that,' _She thought.

"Of course." Celina said as she flipped the now completely frozen Pit over.

"Ignore what Malum said about Pit being gone. As long as the Pit in our dimension is alive, then this one's safe." Lina said to ease the tension between the four friends.

"So why did you decide to 'rush to our aid'?" Dark Pit asked Celina as he circled his doppelganger.

"Well, for one, Lady Palutena had to send _someone _to help after she saw what'd happened- plus, Rose is kind of out of commission at the moment." Celina replied as she fished around in the folds of her toga, eventually pulling out a couple of herbs from her pocket. "I also excel at breaking spells like the one Malum placed on Pit- Malum's aura is unmistakable. He's trying to turn us against each other so we wipe out everything that stands in his path to world domination- we've got to save Harlan."

Celina plucked a silvery leaf from the vine she held in her hand and placed it on Pit's forehead. She muttered in an unrecognizable tongue, and to everyone's surprise, Pit's other eye returned to its normal clear look- he was completely free of Malum's grip. Celina removed the leaf from his forehead and poked a spot on the back of his neck, allowing him to move again.

"Whoa, was _that _ever _weird_." Pit groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Which part? The fact that Malum stretched your vocal cords to their max, or that he was pretty much in your body?" Dark Pit asked, trying to seem completely unaffected by what he'd just seen.

"Both, I guess." Pit replied sheepishly. After picking up his bow, Pit turned to Celina. "I owe you one," He said with a smile. Celina stared at the ground, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. Penny raised an eyebrow. Was there a love triangle between them? No, there couldn't be.

"Come on, you guys. We should probably start looking for Viridi." Lina said, subconsciously slipping her hand into Dark Pit's. He immediately turned red as a tomato.

"R-right," Penny stuttered as the group set off- with no leads at all."

…

In Lina and Celina's dimension, an angel clad in light gray and an angel clad in dark gray were bickering, nervous expressions spread upon their faces.

"We've looked all over- where could they have gone?" The angel whose toga was a light gray asked his companion.

"I have no clue- now calm down already, Pit. We'll find them." The angel in dark gray said. If the one in light gray was Pit, then the one in dark gray had to be Dark Pit.

_"Boys, come into the temple for a moment, please." _A feminine voice echoed in their heads.

"Be there soon, Lady Palutena." Pit said as he and his doppelganger ran into the temple as fast as they could.

"I believe I may have found Harlan, Lina and Celina," Lady Palutena said as the two boys ran in.

"Are you sure you found them?" Pit asked, his eyes glimmering with hope.

"I'm sure. They've been transported into an alternate dimension." The Goddess replied as she aimed the head of her staff at the wall. "I'm leaving it up to both of you to enter their new dimension and bring them back. I have a hunch that corrupt mercenary Celina had helped long ago- Malum- is behind this."

Pit stood tall and saluted to his Goddess. "Understood," He said. Dark Pit grunted and nodded at the woman before him. The two angels watched in awe as a portal opened in front of Lady Palutena, leading to a random city in a brand new world.

"Good luck, you two." Lady Palutena said with a smile as the two angels jumped through, wings spread wide.

"I don't need luck," Dark Pit said as the portal swallowed them both up, _"I need Lina."_

_..._

**_What up Fanfiction'ers?!_**

**_I hope you enjoyed this chapter! My partner-in-crime for this story wrote a good chunk of the beginning of the chapter- I edited it and added in the rest._**

**_Now, I would like to send a message out to a user by the name of The Evil Story_**

**_No, for the last time, you may NOT send my stories to the Nintendo HQ of America. If you ever call me by any more inappropriate names or use any vulgar language in a PM to me again, I will be forced to report you to the Moderators of this site. _**

**_Now... Angry Rant over..._**

**_Once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_**

**_K.I.G. out!_**


	6. Lights and Darks

"Do we even have a clue where Harlan and Viridi are?" Dark Pit grunted.

"Well one thing is for sure; you won't find them without me!" A familiar voice called. The group turned to see Rose running towards them. She ran over to Dark Pit and said, "You didn't _honestly_ think I was going to let you go without me?"

Dark Pit opened his mouth but stopped once he caught a glimpse of the red marks that scarred the pink-haired angel's throat. "What happened to your neck?"

Rose rubbed the marks that were left by Malum. "It's nothing..."

"Who did this to you?! Malum?" Dark Pit asked angrily, "Man that guy is just giving me more reasons to kill him!"

Rose crossed her arms, "_Chill_, alright? He just caught me off guard; won't happen again."

Dark Pit sighed and replied, "Just...be careful."

"Same to you." Rose said with a smile. However, it wasn't her usual mischievous smile, but a warm gentle smile...

"So..._they really do care for each other..._" Lina thought to herself. She turned away.

"Penny... I didn't hurt you, right?" Pit asked.

"Huh?" She said as she turned to him.

"When I was possessed by Malum, did he make me hurt you?" Pit asked with sad eyes.

Penny placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "No, he didn't. He almost did, but that's when you woke up."

"She's right, Pit." Celina added, "It was you who saved her."

"I still feel like a goofball for eating that pizza." Pit sighed.

"Pit, you _are_ a goofball." Celina said.

"But you're _our_ goofball!" Penny giggled. Pit managed to grin a little.

...

Malum stood in a dark room, lit only by blood red candles. A few feet away from him laid Viridi on a stone pedestal. Her face was contorted into a look of pain. Harlan stood next to the pedestal, watching over the sleeping goddess of Nature.

"Puppet," Malum tested, addressing Harlan. Harlan bowed.

"I have a task for you."

"Of course sir," Harlan replied. His green eyes were seemingly glazed over.

"I need you to bring me mortals. But not just any. The ones that have greatness in strength." Malum explained.

"I will not fail you master," Harlan replied.

...

Farther away, the two angels from the alternate dimension were lost (though they'd refused to admit it to one another) in their new environment.

"Pittoo, I'm sure she's fine." Pit encouraged his doppelganger as they soared above the city in this new dimension.

"How can you be so sure?" Dark Pit asked.

Pit turned to him and said, "Because if I know those two, they're strong! Plus they've got Harlan with them too! He's a freaking Dragon God!"

"But," Dark Pit began, "What if something happened to Harlan?!"

"Oh come on Pittoo," Pit said as he rolled his eyes, "What are the odds of that?"

Dark Pit sighed, "Good point." He gazed downwards. "_That's weird... where are the humans?" _He thought to himself, _"Oh wait, there's some. Huh_... _and what do you know? They have weapons. Good, they're FINALLY learning to protect themselves. I mean, they have arrows, and blades, and wings... wait. Wings?! Lina!"_

"Pittoo down there! I see-" Pit started to say but Dark Pit already dived down. "Get back here- the spell Lady Palutena used won't last much longer!" He barked, but it was too late.

...

"...and that's why we put ten walls up in our dimension." Lina finished.

"Woah..." Rose lightly gasped. "Cool. Kinda weird, but cool."

Lina smiled. She was enjoying the fact that they weren't ripping each other's heads off.

"Okay, now I've got a question for you." Lina said, "Why didn't a fangirl swarm burst in here when Pittoo broke the fourth wall?"

Rose thought for a moment then answered, "Well, after our little 'Christmas Special' we decided to put an electric fence around the walls. Just in case."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Lina asked herself with a smile.

"Looks like they're getting along," Celina whispered to Penny.

"Thank gods," Penny whispered back, "I was afraid we'd have to drag them apart from each other, _again_."

There was an awkward silence.

"So..." Celina said trying to start conversation, "Any idea where we're going?"

"Beats me," Penny replied shrugging her shoulders.

"Hey, Lina!" A voice shouted.

"Who was that?" Rose asked, spinning around, looking for attackers.

"I don't know, but I recognize the voice," Lina replied, a look of astonishment crossing her face as she looked up.

"What in the- how did _they _get here?" Celina asked as she stood beside her friend, blue eyes open wide.

"Wait- is that… _me?_" Dark Pit asked. _'Man,' _He thought, _'I must've finally jumped into the loony bin.'_

"Believe it, Pittoo," Pit began, "Because I just saw_ myself_."

The group of angels watched wide-eyed as two new angels clad in gray landed in front of the group.

"Lina!" The angel in dark gray exclaimed. He spread his black feathered wings wide to steady himself as he landed, causing Dark Pit to gawk in absolute shock.

"Pittoo!" Lina cried as she ran up to the angel. The two hugged tightly, while the others watched in shock.

"Pittoo?!" Dark Pit exclaimed, "But that's _me_!"

"And I am, too." The angel in dark gray said. It was true- they were exactly the same- well, almost. The only difference between them was their color of clothing.

"Hey, I'm here, too!" The angel in light gray said, his blue eyes filled with excitement.

"No one could forget you, Pit!" Celina said as she hugged him tightly.

"Yeah, no one could- mainly because you're so annoying." The angel in dark gray added.

"Oh, this is trippy." Pit whispered.

"Tell me about it," Rose replied.

"So, what's going on here?" Dark Pit asked as he examined the boy Lina was now hand-in-hand with.

"We were sent by _our _Lady Palutena to bring back Lina, Celina and Harlan- and stop Malum along the way." The angel in light gray replied. "Hey, where _is _Harlan, anyway?"

"It's a long story," Pit began.

"You know, maybe we should discuss what to do with the four of you before we get into mission details," Penny pointed out as she gestured to the two Pit's and two Dark Pit's.

"Right," Lina said as she dragged the angel she held hands with forward. "This is the Dark Pit from my dimension- just call him Kuro."

"Come on- it's bad enough you bug me with that nickname at home!" He complained.

"Don't make life anymore difficult," Lina sighed. Kuro knew that her fuse was short now.

"And this is my Pit," Celina said as she put a hand on the angel in light gray's shoulder.

"You can call me Shiro," He said, just before Celina could spit out some ridiculous name. "Those are our nicknames at home."

"That's Japanese for Black and White," Dark Pit said flatly.

"Yeah, Harlan came up with 'em," Shiro explained as he ran a hand through his brown hair.

"Figures," He replied.

"Now that we've got that sorted out," Kuro began, "I think we should head to Skyworld after we find Harlan- I'm pretty sure Lady Palutena should learn about this- wait, you _do_ have a Lady Palutena here, right?" He asked.

"Of course!" Penny answered. "She's my sister!"

Kuro and Shiro were dumbfounded.

"So that means Harlan's your…" Kuro trailed off.

"Nephew; yeah, I know- it's a little weird." Penny replied as her cheeks started to warm up.

"Well, I guess we should get a move on," Shiro announced as he took Celina's hand.

"Right." Pit said as he took Penny's hand.

_"Oh great,"_ Penny thought, _"It's a girlfriend war between the Pit's."_

…

Harlan had left on his mission long ago, and Viridi had just woken up.

"Huh? Where am I?" Viridi asked. She slowly let her gaze drift around the room, staring at all of the strange symbols on the walls of the darkened room- were they drawn with paint- or was it _blood?_ Whatever it was, it made her nervous. What really scared her though was the man sitting in the middle of a Pentagram painted on the floor- painted in _fresh blood. _Placed at each of the stars six points, was a blood red candle- their flames casting shadows onto the walls.

"I'm glad to see you've finally awoken, mistress Viridi." The man uttered.

"I'm glad to see you aren't killing trees right now, _Malum_." Viridi sneered at him. She spat his name like it was poison on her tongue.

"Ah, just as feisty as the Viridi's in the other dimensions I've visited." Malum said quietly as he raised his hand. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to borrow those powers of yours for a while." He said as the pentagram he stood in began to glow. The voices of those he had sent to the underworld could be heard begging Viridi to run- but she couldn't. He'd paralyzed her.

"What- no!" Viridi snapped.

"I'm sorry; I wasn't asking- I was telling." He growled as his palm shot a ray of purple light at the Goddess.

…

The group of angels had been walking about the town looking for Harlan all day. With no success, they decided to return to Skyworld.

"I can't believe it! Harlan let himself be manipulated by that freak?" Kuro asked.

"We don't really know _what _the case is with him, but Malum has him under his control." Rose replied. Dark Pit walked further behind the two- he didn't like the fact that he had to compete with someone- especially since that someone was himself- for Rose's attention.

"That's all the more reason to get him back with us." Shiro and Pit said in unison. The two turned to each other in surprise.

"That'll happen a lot since you're the same person." Penny said with a smirk.

"Anyway," Lina began, "How do you thing Lady Palutena will react when she sees Kuro and Shiro?"

"How will I react when I see who and who?" A voice asked from behind.

"Busted," Celina murmured. The group turned around to see a smiling Lady Palutena. Her smile was soon replaced with a look of confusion when she saw Kuro and Shiro.

"Lady Palutena, we can explain," Shiro said as he and Kuro stepped forward.

"Oh, you'd better." Lady Palutena said she crossed her arms, eyeing Pit.

"I had nothing to do with this one- I swear!" Pit said in defense.

"He's telling the truth," Shiro said. "Forgive us. I'm the "other Pit", A.K.A. Shiro, and this is Kuro, the "other Dark Pit". Shiro said while gesturing to Kuro. "The Lady Palutena from our dimension sent us after Harlan, Celina and Lina."

"We were also told to go after Malum- he's from our dimension, after all." Kuro added. Lady Palutena was silent for a long while.

"I guess you boys need a place to stay," Lady Palutena said to them.

"We do, too." Dark Pit said as he and Rose stepped forward.

"Viridi disappeared- we can't find her at all." Rose explained.

"Very well," Lady Palutena said. "I will have rooms made up for you.

"Thank you, Lady Palutena." Rose and Shiro said in unison. Lady Palutena smiled at the group and walked off to attend to other matters.

"That went better than I thought it would," Penny said as she exhaled. She'd been holding her breath the entire time, hoping Palutena wouldn't freak on them for that one. Penny was probably the only one who had seen her like that.

"I'm glad she's okay with it." Celina added.

…

Magnus and Gaol sat in their small camp which they had set up in an open field. Gaol was polishing her large sword, which had been rusted over after a previous encounter with Underworld troops. Magnus sat counting the reward they had received from the job.

"Heh," Gaol spoke up, "even without that lunatic Hades, Underworld baddies still put up a decent fight."

"Decent. But not fun." Magnus grunted. Gaol let out a little laugh.

"Same old Magnus." She said. Magnus simply rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Master will be pleased." Hissed a voice.

"Oh, very funny Magnus." Gaol said bluntly.

Magnus looked up, "What?"

"I know that trick, trying to scare me with a fake voice. Real original." She replied sarcastically.

"That wasn't me..." Magnus muttered.

"Quit playing dumb!" Gaol snapped back.

Harlan emerged from the shadows, "He's not lying." He pulled out his long blade. "You're coming with me."


	7. Attack

"Well look who finally decided to get up," Rose teased as both Dark Pit and Kuro slumped into the dining room. Lina sat across from Rose and pulled out an empty seat next to herself for Kuro, who happily accepted it.

"Aw, why can't you be more polite like Kuro?" Rose teased Dark Pit as he sat down. Kuro exchanged an awkward glance with Dark Pit while Lina rolled her eyes.

"Shut up." Dark Pit grunted.

"Good morning everyone!" sang Penny as she cheerfully skipped in. Pit followed behind her, followed by Celina and Shiro.

"Why am I not surprised those two are morning people?" Celina whispered to Shiro while pointing to Pit and Penny.

"Yeah... this place is a little weird." Shiro replied.

Penny plopped down in a chair and said, "Well it's best to have a positive attitude!"

"You gotta stay upbeat, upbeat, upbeat..." Pit sang.

"...Or you'll be dead meat, dead meat, dead meat!" Penny finished.

"Oh gods, it's like you WANT us to get annoyed!" Kuro grunted.

"Tell me about it..." Dark Pit grumbled.

...

"You have done well, my puppet." Malum said to Harlan as the demi god emerged from the shadows. He glanced down at the two humans, Magnus and Gaol, who were both unconscious. He bowed before his master.

"What has become of the Nature Goddess?" He asked.

"Let's just say her powers are going to be quite useful..." Malum said slyly as an evil grin spread across his face. He then turned back to Magnus and Gaol, "Now then, which one will experience the transformation first?" After a moment of thinking, Malum held his hand over Magnus and released a dark aura. Magnus seemed to recoil ever so slightly, an expression of distress and pain upon his face. Soon, he seemed to succumb to it, and all emotion was wiped away.

"Puppet, take the female human to a cell; I'll deal with her later." Malum ordered. Harlan bowed once again and hoisted Gaol over his shoulder.

...

"See?" Celina said as she gestured to the flat rectangular object in her hand, "It's called an iPhone." She held it up for Penny to look at.

"Fascinating..." Penny gasped, completely awestruck. "Where did you get this?!"

"...The Apple Store." Celina answered casually. Obviously this dimension's humans had a long way to go...

Lina and Kuro, who were sitting a distance away from those two, were catching up.

"So how'd you guys get here?" Kuro asked.

Lina answered, "Harlan found a crystal by the ruins of the Lunar Sanctum. While we were examining it, it started glowing and it shattered. My theory is that it opened an interdimensional portal and we were sucked in... and then boom! We ended up here."

"Well at least not everything's different in this dimension. Pit's still an idiot." Kuro replied with a smile. Lina giggled at his joke. Suddenly, there was a loud crash from outside. The sound made all eight of them jolt in surprise.

"What was that?!" Pit shouted in alarm.

"Beats me, but we should probably check it out!" Shiro replied. The group dashed out of the temple. Hovering above Skyworld were hundreds... no, thousands of-

"Forces of Nature?!" Rose gasped in shock. "What the heck?!"

"Doesn't Viridi know we're here?!" Dark Pit asked angrily.

"I have a feeling they aren't under Viridi's command." Said Palutena as she raced outside, staff in hand. "Quickly, get your weapons."

"Right!" They replied in unison as they raced back inside the temple. Just before they reached the door Penny stopped Pit.

"Penny, what's wrong?!" Pit asked anxiously. Whatever it was, he knew it probably wasn't good.

"Pit... I... I sense..." Penny stuttered.

"You sense… who or what?" Pit asked, trying to hurry the conversation along.

"...Magnus." Penny finally finished.

"What?! How could you sense a human here in Skyworld?!" Pit exclaimed. He hoped Penny wasn't losing it.

"I...I'm not sure...I can sense his aura here but there's something off about it..." Penny replied nervously.

"Well first things first, let's get our weapons and begin defending." Pit said as he dashed inside, with Penny hot on his trail.

...

The eight raced back out with weapons in hand and took off into the air. Following them was the army of Centurions.

"For Skyworld!" Both Pit and Shiro cheered at the same time. They both exchanged awkward glances.

Shiro said, "Sorry, it's a force of habit." The two shrugged it off and continued flying forward, bashing any enemies they could.

From a distance Celina and Penny were side by side shooting their arrows at the Forces of Nature.

"On your left!" Celina called to Penny who turned and shot an enemy.

"On your right!" Penny replied to Celina who did the exact same thing. Celina flew above and summoned a large fireball then fired it at a group of Bumpety Bombs.

"Wait- couldn't you just use your powers to wipe them out? You're a goddess after all." Celina asked.

"Goddess _in training_," Penny corrected, "Believe me, I'd love to use them, but I don't know how to control them properly, especially during battles, one wrong move and I could wipe us all out!"

"I see... that would be inconvenient..." Celina mumbled.

...

Rose and Dark Pit were soaring above one of the floating platforms shooting at Trynamites.

"You know, it's kind of weird fighting our own troops," Rose pointed out.

Dark Pit sliced a Trynamite in half and responded, "I never liked them much anyway."

Suddenly a figure slammed into Dark Pit causing him to fall onto the floating platform beneath him.

"What the-?!" Rose muttered as she flew down to the platform. The figure who was repeatedly trying to slash Dark Pit as he struggled to stand up was none other than Harlan.

Dark Pit managed to escape his reach and shouted, "Well looks like we've got a rematch!"

"I'd like to see you try weakling!" Harlan snapped back. Within seconds, he had charged at Dark Pit before he could even blink. But in the nick of time, Rose jumped up and kicked Harlan in the stomach. He went flying back with a groan of pain.

"Not fond of airhead- especially when they're part dragon!" Rose taunted. Harlan growled and began charging at Rose. As he charged, his emerald green eyes changed to a reptilian gold.

...

Meanwhile Kuro and Lina were busy taking down a patrol of Clobblers.

"Ugh! How many of these things are there?!" Lina groaned.

"Beats me, but stay strong!" Kuro called to her.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning shot straight at the duo. Luckily they managed to dodge it.

"Where did that come from?!" Kuro asked in confusion. Lina gazed around until something caught her eye. A young girl, surrounded by small bolts of lightning, was coming their way.

Lina gasped, "Phosphora!" Sure enough, it was her. As she came closer, Lina noticed her eyes had a glazed and misted look to them. '_Just like Pit's were! That must mean Malum has taken control of the whole Forces of Nature...even their commanders'!_ Lina thought worriedly."She's under that freak show Malum's control!" Lina called to Kuro as she blocked Phosphora's powerful attacks.

"Well that explains why she's so quiet..." Kuro pointed out.

...

From a distance Pit and Shiro flew side-by-side knocking out Forces of Nature.

"Woohoo!" They both cheered after eliminating a Bumptey Bomb.

"Man we're- I mean I'm...I mean us..." Pit stuttered. He shook his head, "Man, it sure is confusing now that there are two of us."

"Tell me about it." Shiro sighed. He then gazed over at the floating platform where Rose and Dark Pit were. He gasped when he saw Rose and Harlan locked in battle. "Oh crap... we have to get over there! Now!"

"Right!" Pit replied with a nod. The two angels quickly took off to the platform.

...

"You cannot win, Unnatural one." Harlan growled. Rose became tense.

She thought to herself, '_Unatural One...how did Malum know?'_

"It was quite obvious; you and your little boyfriend over there weren't meant to be a part of this world..." Harlan continued. Rose clenched her fists.

"SHUT UP!" She screeched as she socked Harlan in the face. She watched as a thin stream of blood spurted from his nose.

Suddenly a voice called to her, "Rose stop!" She looked up to see both of the Pit's flying above. "Rose!" Shiro called again, "Be careful! Harlan has a dragon form!"

"A... a what?" Dark Pit asked scratching his head, "Oh come on, there's no way he could- oh crap!" Dark Pit turned to see a large red dragon towering above them.

"You've got to be kidding me." Rose grunted. The dragon, or more specifically Harlan, began gathering a large ball of fire.

"So long!" He growled. Just before he could roast the two angels, he was hit by an incoming arrow. The group looked up to see Celina and Penny diving in their direction. "Great," Harlan growled, "More insignificants."

"Hey! Don't back sass me mister! I'm your _aunt_! Have some respect!" Penny scolded.

"Really?" Celina said with an annoyed look. "You chose _that _out of all the things you could've said?"

"Oh I just had to!" Penny giggled. "Anyway, do you think you can fix him like you fixed Pit?"

Celina nodded, "I think so, but I'll need him to be weakened quite a bit in order to do it."

"Leave that to us!" Pit called. In a flash, he, Shiro, Dark Pit, and Rose began circling Harlan, using any attacks they could. Once he was distracted, Celina and Penny flew above.

"Chain of Light!" Penny summoned. In a bright flash of light, a golden chain appeared and wrapped itself around the dragon-Harlan and pulled him to the ground. As he struggled to get loose, Celina pulled out a silvery leaf, much similar to the one she'd used on Pit, and placed it on Harlan's forehead. She then whispered the chant from before. Suddenly Harlan stopped thrashing, and with a jolt, shrank back down to his normal form.

"My head..." Harlan groaned as he sat up, the golden chains disappearing in a small flash of sparkles.

Pit stuttered from a distance, "H-Harlan... are you alright? Do you… y'know, still want to kill us all?"

"No… I feel like... I just woke up... how long was I out?" Harlan grumbled.

"Couple of days." Rose answered bluntly, crossing her arms.

"Rose, I couldn't control myself- I heard what I said to you... or what my possessed form said to you, rather. I hope you can forgive me..."

"Stop being a suck up." Rose grunted, "You were possessed by crazy guy."

Dark Pit whispered to Harlan, "In other words, she forgives you." Harlan couldn't help but let out a laugh.

...

"Kuro, what are going to do?!" Lina asked, dodging attacks from the brainwashed Phosphora. She shot one last arrow and managed to knock away the deity.

"I'm not sure..." Kuro grunted, "Hold up... is that... Magnus?" He asked.

Lina followed his gaze toward Palutena's Temple. She gasped when she saw the human smashing his way out of the Temple. Hanging limply over his shoulder was Lady Palutena, who was unconscious. "Lady Palutena!" Lina shouted. "Oh, this isn't good."

"Lina! Kuro!" Harlan called. The two turned around, expecting an attack, but to their surprise, they saw Harlan running towards them with the rest of the group.

"Harlan, you're back!" Lina cheered.

"No time for reunions," Kuro stated, "Magnus has Lady Palutena!"

Pit gasped, "No! We've got to keep moving!"

"Sis!" Penny cried. "This is horrible!"

The group began flying toward the Temple. They were just about to reach it when...

_"__You're too late! The Goddess of Light is mine now!" _Hissed a familiar voice_._ Malum's image appeared in the sky beyond the Temple. "What a shame. Harlan was such a useful little puppet. No matter, the Goddess shall serve me better."

"Let her go!" Shiro growled.

"Such a demanding little angel," Malum snickered, "I'm afraid I can't do that. I must gather the powers of all Gods and Goddesses of this puny planet. Now if you'll excuse me, I must prepare. I will now bid you all adieu." And with that, Malum snapped his fingers. Both Magnus and Lady Palutena were engulfed in an orb of shadows, and disappeared.

"Wait- without Lady Palutena, we can't fly, right?" Shiro pointed out. He glanced at everyone nervously as realization dawned on them all. "Oh crud."

Suddenly, the group stopped in the air. The angels' wings stopped emitting their heavenly blue glow and they began hurdling down toward Earth.

"Good grief," Harlan muttered as he began to transform back into a dragon. "It looks like we Gods have to do all of the dirty work." And with that, Harlan and Penny quickly dived after the angels.


End file.
